The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Issue 88

Issue 88 [@ 1:34:18]: Video clip in two parts with – Title: Friday Sermon, Abd Al-Qader Al-Kilani Mosque, Baghdad, Iraq, February 14, 2003

English sub-titles of a speech in Arabic from the pulpit by an unidentified speaker – “I advise you, oh America, Britain, and those whom Allah said about you: Allah’s wrath upon you, the Jews, oh the son of apes and pigs – there is no strife on the face of the earth that you have not sparked – Whenever they start the fire of strife, Allah extinguishes it. May Allah extinguish your light and your fires. But we, we are the men whom Allah has chosen, and wanted, and made us strong, so as to pluck your heads, ripe for the picking, that rose and acted in tyranny and in arrogance. We will be the ones to pluck them, if Allah wills it.”

[@1:36:10] above video clip is resumed – “They will know – and I don’t want to mention their names from this pulpit. The Americans and their president and the British and their allies and the Zionists, the spoiled offspring of this entity. Allahu Akbar! (Allah is the greatest). If Allah permits us, Oh Nation of Muhammad, even the stone will say, Oh Muslim, A Jew is hiding behind me, come and cut off his head
[at this point the preacher lifts a scabbard in his hands and draws a sword from it]
and we shall cut off his head. By Allah, we shall cut it off!
[preacher brandishes the sword with an emotional and forceful voice]
Oh Jews, Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
[the audience starts to resonate with their voices, camera starts to zoom out from the preacher]
Jihad for the sake of Allah! Jihad for the sake of Allah!
[camera switches to the audience and pans, a packed mosque congregation of about 200, sitting on the rugs in rows with various individuals showing fists in the air, waving arms, rising, screaming]
Jihad for the sake of Allah! Allahu Akbar! The believers (Muslims) will triumph! Allahu Akbar! (Allah is the greatest), Allahu Akbar! The believers (Muslims) will triumph!”

Rebuttal 88: These are the angry voices and faces of soon to be occupied people in Iraq on whom a war was imminent for no fault of theirs. Their attackers and occupiers were to be none but the enlightened West where the documentary under discussion was made to begin with. Iraqis were then proudly subjected to “shock and awe” to which the whole world is a witness. Voluminous books have been written and will be written on decimation of a nation, the atrocious occupation of Iraqi people and the aftermath of the decade long bloodshed. One such book is “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” by Naomi Klein. Its pages 416-420 are reproduced below:

When the idea of invading an Arab country and turning it into a model state first gained currency after September 11, the names of several possible countries were floated—Iraq, Syria, Egypt and, Michael Ledeen’s preference, Iran. Iraq had a great deal to recommend it, however. In addition to its vast oil reserves, it also made a good central location for military bases now that Saudi Arabia looked less dependable, and Saddam’s use of chemical weapons on his own people made him easy to hate. Another factor, often overlooked, was that Iraq had the advantage of familiarity.

The 1991 Gulf War had been the U.S.’s last major ground offensive involving hundreds of thousands of troops, and in the twelve years since, the Pentagon had been using the battle as a template in workshops, training and elaborate war games. One example of this postgame theory was a paper that had captured the imagination of Donald Rumsfeld called Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance. Written by a group of maverick strategists at the National Defense University in 1996, the paper positions itself as an all-purpose military doctrine, but it is really about refighting the Gulf War. Its lead author, the retired navy commander Harlan Tillman, explained that the project began when General Chuck Homer, the commander of the air war in the 1991 invasion, was asked about his greatest frustration in fighting Saddam Hussein. He replied that he did not know where to “stick the needle” to make the Iraqi army collapse. “Shock and Awe,” writes Ullman (who coined the phrase) “was intended to address this question: If Desert Storm could be refought, how could we win in half the time or less and with far fewer forces? … The key to its success is finding the entry points for Horner’s needles—the spots that, when targeted, get an enemy to collapse immediately.” The authors were convinced that if the U.S. military ever got the chance to fight Saddam again, it would now be in a far better position to find those “entry points,” thanks to new satellite technologies and breakthroughs in precision weaponry that would allow it to insert the “needles” with unprecedented accuracy.

Iraq had another advantage. While the U.S. military was busy fantasizing about refighting Desert Storm with a technological upgrade equivalent to “the difference between Atari and PlayStation,” as one commentator put it, Iraq’s military capacity had been hurtling backward, eroded by sanctions and virtually disassembled by the United Nations administered weapons inspection program. That meant that, compared with Iran or Syria, Iraq seemed the site for the most winnable war.

Thomas Friedman was forthright about what it meant for Iraq to be selected as the model. “We are not doing nation-building in Iraq. We are doing nation-creating,” he wrote—as if shopping around for a large, oil-rich Arab nation to create from scratch was a natural, even “noble” thing to do in the twenty-first century. Friedman is among many of the onetime war advocates who has since claimed that he did not foresee the carnage that would follow from the invasion. It’s hard to see how he could have missed that detail. Iraq was not an empty space on a map; it was and remains a culture as old as civilization, with fierce anti-imperialist pride, strong Arab nationalism, deeply held faiths and a majority of the adult male population with military training. If “nation creating” was going to happen in Iraq, what exactly was supposed to become of the nation that was already there? The unspoken assumption from the beginning was that much of it would have to disappear, to clear the ground for the grand experiment—an idea that contained, at its core, the certainty of extraordinary colonial violence.

Thirty years earlier, when the Chicago School counterrevolution took its first leap from the textbook to the real world, it also sought to erase nations and create new ones in their place. Like Iraq in 2003, Chile in 1973 was meant to serve as a model for the entire rebellious continent, and for many years it did. The brutal regimes that implemented Chicago School ideas in the seventies understood that, for their idealized new nations to be born in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, whole categories of people and their cultures would need to be pulled up “from the root.”

In the countries that suffered the political cleansings, there have been collective efforts to come to terms with this violent history—truth commissions, excavations of unmarked graves and the beginnings of war crimes trials for the perpetrators. But the Latin American juntas did not act alone: they were propped up before and after their coups by Washington, as has been amply documented. For instance, in 1976, the year of Argentina’s coup, when thousands of young activists were snatched from their homes, the junta had full financial support from Washington. (“If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly,” Kissinger had said.) That year, Gerald Ford was president, Dick Cheney as his chief of staff, Donald Rumsfeld was his secretary of defense, and Kissinger’s executive assistant was an ambitious young man named Paul Bremer. These men faced no truth-and-justice process for their roles in supporting the juntas and went on to enjoy long and prosperous careers. So long, in fact, that they would he around three decades later to implement a strikingly similar— if far more violent experiment— in Iraq.

In his 2005 inaugural address, George W. Bush described the era between the end of the Cold War amid the start of the War on Terror as “years of repose, years of sabbatical—and then there came a day of fire.” The Iraq invasion marked the ferocious return to the early techniques of the free-market crusade—the use of ultimate shock to forcibly wipe out and erase all obstacles to the construction of model corporatist states free from all interference.

Ewen Cameron, the CIA-funded psychiatrist who had tried to “de-pattern” his patients by regressing them to infantile states, had believed that if a little shock was good for this purpose, more was better. He blasted brains with everything he could think of—electricity, hallucinogens, sensory deprivation, sensory overload —anything that would wipe out what was and give him a blank slate on which to imprint new thoughts, new patterns. With a far larger canvas, that was the invasion and occupation strategy for Iraq. The architects of the war surveyed the global arsenal of shock tactics and decided to go with all of them—blitzkrieg military bombardment supplemented with elaborate psychological operations, followed up with the fastest and most sweeping political and economic shock therapy program attempted anywhere, backed up, if there was any resistance, by rounding up those who resisted and subjecting them to “gloves-off” abuse. Often, in the analyses of the war in Iraq, the conclusion is that the invasion was a “success” but the occupation was a failure. What this assessment overlooks is that the invasion and occupation were two parts of a unified strategy—the initial bombardment as designed to erase the canvas on which the model nation could be built.

War as Mass Torture – For the strategists of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the answer to the question of “where to stick the needles” appears to have been: everywhere. During the 1991 Gulf War, roughly three hundred Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired over the course of five weeks. In 2003, more than three hundred and eighty were launched in a single day. Between March 20 and May 2, the weeks of “major combat: the U.S dropped more than thirty thousand bombs on Iraq, as well as twenty thousand precision-guided cruise missiles – 67 percent of the total number ever made.

“I am so scared,” Yasmine Musa, a Baghdad mother of three said during the bombings. “Not a single minute passes by without hearing and feeling a drop of a bomb somewhere. I don’t think that a single meter in the whole of Iraq is safe.” That meant Shock and Awe was doing its job. In open defiance of the laws of war barring collective punishment, Shock and Awe is a military doctrine that prides itself on not merely targeting the enemy’s military forces but, as its authors stress, the “society writ large”— mass fear is a key part of the strategy.

Another element that distinguishes Shock and Awe is its acute consciousness of war as a cable news spectacle, one playing to several audiences at once: the enemy, Americans at home and anyone else thinking of making trouble. “When the video results of these attacks are broadcast in real time worldwide on CNN, the positive impact on coalition support and negative impact on potential threat support can be decisive, the Shock and Awe manual states. From the start, the invasion was conceived as a message from Washington to the World, one spoken in the language of fireballs, deafening explosions and city-shattering quakes. In The One Percent Doctrine, Ron Suskind explains that for Rumsfeld and Cheney, “the primary impetus for invading Iraq” was the desire “to create a demonstration model to guide the behavior of anyone with the temerity to acquire destructive weapons or, in any way, flout the authority of the United States.” Less than a war strategy, it was a “global experiment in behaviorism.”

Maybe, Trifkovic can justify it all with another documentary “West: What the West Needs to Know”. The manufactured lies to start the Iraq and the human costs that it subsequently entailed were addressed in Issue 84 under the heading Iraq War-II that reader may refer to.

The documentary seems blind to the inflicted injury and the wounded groans of the subjugated population and picks up a video clip of the resultant anger to malign Islam. Emotions aside, the preacher above refers to certain topics that are the focus of this documentary makers and will be discussed below:

* Behavior of a section of Jews in history addressed metaphorically as “apes and swine”
* Jews and Christians kindling fires of war that God extinguishes
* Prophecy by the Prophet of a time when Jews will be confronted for their machinations

BEHAVIOR OF A SECTION OF JEWS IN HISTORY ADDRESSED METAPHORICALLY AS “APES AND SWINE”:

This topic is spread across a spectrum of historical events intertwined with moral decay of individuals, distortion of scriptures, blind fellowship, self-righteous and arrogant behaviors, and the consequent doom of spiritually devoid societies.

Quran on three occasions refers to conduct of a certain section of Jews as apes and once as swine:

2:65. And indeed you have come to know (the end of) those of you who transgressed regarding the Sabbath. Thereupon We said to them, `Be you (as) apes, despised.‘

5:60. Say, `Shall I inform you of those who shall receive from Allâh a recompense worse than that of those (who try to find fault with Us)? They are those whom Allâh has deprived of His blessings and upon whom He brought His displeasure and indignation and of whom He has made (as) apes and swine and who serve the transgressor (- the devil). It is these who are indeed worse-placed and farther astray from the right path.’

7:166. So when they insolently refused to keep away from that which they were forbidden, We condemned them to be (as) apes despised.

However, this does not mean that all Jewish people are degraded or ridiculed, because:

3:113. They (- the people of the Scripture) are not all alike. Among these people of the Scripture there are some upright people. They rehearse the Message of Allâh in the hours of the night and they prostrate themselves (in His worship).

3:114. They believe in Allâh and the Last Day and enjoin good and forbid evil, and they vie one with another in (doing) good deeds. And it is these who are of the truly righteous.

Sabbath and Red Sea

To admonish the societies against the moral precipices of their own makings, Quran frequently draws from examples in history:

7:176. … So narrate to them the account (of the people of old) that they may reflect.

The above verses are not blanket assertions against all Jewish people indiscriminately, rather they are a reflection on the Israelites living on the Red Sea, who insolently refused to keep away from that which they were forbidden – 7:166 while violating the Sabbath and indulging in their economic activity of fishing. Why was Sabbath so important for those people?

The Jews that Prophet Moses rescued were in a state of moral depravity. They had lost the concept of God and all the virtues that flow from it, for having lived under centuries of servitude in Egypt:

4:153. The people of the Scripture ask you [–Muhammad] to bring down upon them a Book from the heaven. They made a (more wicked and) greater demand than that from Moses, when they said, `Show us Allâh openly (face to face);’ then a destructive punishment overtook them for their wrongdoing. Then they took the calf (for worship) after clear commandments had come to them, but We pardoned (them) even that. And We gave Moses an undisputed authority.

Sabbath was ordained for the spiritual revival of these people and to lift them from the nadir of a spiritual void after they had escaped out of Egypt and were in Sinai, but before entering the land of Canaan:

4:154. And We raised the Mount above them while taking their covenant (at the foot of the Mount), and We said to them, `Enter the gate (of the town) submissively,’ and We said to them, `Do not violate the (law of) Sabbath.’ And We took from them a solemn covenant [of not only observing the ritual but also following the purifying purpose of Sabbath].

Similar account is also found in Old Testament:

Exodus 16:35 – And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.

Sabbath was ordained after Exodus from Egypt: Exodus 16:26 – Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

Exodus 16:27 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that there went out some of the people to gather, and they found none.

Exodus 16:28 And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?

Using Jewish people as an example, Quran admonishes that those who do not follow the spiritual path, such as Sabbath, and who not only reject the Messengers and their Messages, but also show antagonism and arrogance towards Messengers are destined to be left in a spiritual desert:

4:155. Then because of their breaking their covenant [of preserving the Sabbath – 4:154] and their denial of the Messages of Allâh and their antagonising the Prophets without a just cause and their saying, `Our hearts are uncircumcised (and so cannot hear).’ Nay, (the truth however is) Allâh has set a seal upon their hearts because of their disbelief so that they believe but a little.

Parallels between Fasting in Islam and the Jewish Sabbath

For the Red Sea denizens, just like other Jews, Sabbath was a mandated spiritual exercise. To understand Sabbath through lens of Quran one has to understand fasting for Muslims first, because there are parallels.

In Quran, a believer is put through certain tests of daily living with the purpose of taming the innate ‘animal self’, which once controlled then in turn naturally puts the individual on a spiritual path towards a ‘soul at rest’. Restricting food, conjugal relationships while intensifying spiritual activities of prayers, charity and studying Quran during certain days of the year, commonly known as fasting is one such spiritual exercise (ref: 2:183 – 185). The next verse shows that as a natural consequence of fasting man gets proximate to God:

2:186. And when My servants ask you concerning Me (tell them), I am nearby indeed, I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me, so they should respond to My call, and believe in Me (that I possess all these attributes) so that they may proceed in the right way.

After explaining the spirit of fasting in verses 2:183 – 188, the details of how to fast are given in verse 2:187.

Similar to fasting, formal daily prayers (Salat) independently and in unison with fasting also keep the evil tendencies of a person at bay:

29:45. Recite (preach, follow and meditate on) that which has been revealed to you of the Book (–the Qur’ân) and observe Prayer. Verily, Prayer restrains (the observer) from indecency and abominable things and loathsome deeds and from all that runs counter to reason and moral sense. Yet of all, the greatest thing is that Allâh will remember you and help you rise to eminence. And Allâh knows all that you do.

The above verses set in stone the moral outcome of fasting and all its obligatory spiritual, moral and sacrificial requirements i.e. Thus does Allâh explains His commandments for people that they may become secure against evil (2:187), else the spiritual void thus created from lack of spiritual hygiene lets the natural law of moral decay seep in for the individual and collectively for the society which is outlined in Quran:

7:175. And relate to them the news of him to whom We gave Our commandments but he withdrew himself therefrom, the satan followed him with the result that he became one of those led astray (and became a pervert).

Elsewhere to emphasize the spiritual cleansing effect of fasting Quran gives numerous examples where fasting can be a penance for one’s mistakes e.g. killing of a believer – 4:92, breaking of an oath – 5:89, vengeful abstinence from relationship with wife – 58:2-4.

Of note above is that in fasting only certain activities are to be restrained in certain days only and that too only in certain hours of the day and not the whole day. Similarly, if Sabbath was observed for all its obligatory spiritual, moral and sacrificial requirements by Israelites living on Red Sea, they would not have time left to pursue their economic activities, primarily the fishing. Thus, when Quran mentions that the said people violated the Sabbath by fishing on a certain day of the week, it clearly implies that their society was not pursuing the spiritual paths that were given to them in their Scriptures.

Fasting and Sabbath not to Displace Daily Living

In terms of proportions, Muslims on the average for the year fast 1 in 12 days, whereas the said Israelites ‘fasted’ from their economic activity of fishing for 1 in 7 days. In sum total, fasting is temporary restriction of certain lawful allowances coupled with spiritual exercises for moral elevation of a person. Fasting does not mean banning of allowed food and just activities when one is not fasting. Same is implied for Sabbath for Israelites in history when certain routine gainful activities were restricted for only a day in the week, while fully allowed on other days:

5:87. O You who believe! do not forbid yourselves good and pure things which Allâh has made lawful for you, and do not transgress. Verily, Allâh does not like the transgressors..

5:88. And eat of what Allâh has provided you of (things) lawful, good and pure. And take Allâh as a shield, in whom you repose your faith.

Specifically, with regards to fishing and sea trade, Quran fully encourages it:

16:14. And He it is Who has made subservient (to you) the sea that you may eat of its fresh flesh (of fish), and may bring forth out of it (precious and beautiful things of) ornaments for your wear. And you see the ships cleaving through it. (They do so that you may journey with ease) and that you may seek of His bounty (in other ways) and that you may render thanks (to Him).

Sabbath Breakers and Their Distortions, During Prophet’s Life

As a prelude to the full relevance of mentioning the moral context of the said Sabbath and the attributes of the Sabbath breakers, Quran gives the following narrative of Jews during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

4:44. Have you not considered (the case of) those who were given a portion of the Scripture? They prefer to go astray and desire that you too should go astray from the right path.

4:45. And Allâh knows your enemies full well. And Allâh suffices as a Patron, and Allâh suffices as a Helper.

4:46. (These enemies of yours are) of those who are judaised. They tear the words from their context and say, `We hear and we disobey,’ and (say), `Lend us an ear, O you to whom no one would lend an ear!’ and (say,) `Râ`inâ’, giving a slight twist to their tongues (while pronouncing the word and thereby) slandering the true meanings (and thus making a play with the word) and seeking to injure the Faith. It would have been better and more upright on their part to have said, `We hear and we obey;’ and `Lend us an ear;’ and `Unzurnâ’ (we beg your attention)’. Allâh has disapproved of them because of their disbelief so that they will not believe, excepting a few (of them).

The distortion and mockery of the Message that Jews tried during life of Prophet Muhammad had historical underpinnings that Quran points out:

7:161. And (recall the time) when it was said to them, ‘Dwell in this township (-Yathrib) and eat therefrom when you will and pray, “Relieve us of the burden of our sins,” and enter its gate submissively. (If you do so) We will protect you against (the consequences of) your sins. We shall multiply the reward of the doers of excellent deeds.’

7:162. But those amongst them who were unjust changed the word to something different from that which they were told. So We sent down upon them unavoidable punishment from heaven because they had always been wrongdoers.

7:163. AND ask them as to (what happened to the people of) the township (- Eila) which was on the seashore (of the Red Sea) when they profaned the Sabbath. On the day of their Sabbath their fish appeared to them in shoals upon shoals on the surface (of the water), but on the day when they did not observe the Sabbath (and fishing was open), it did not appear to them [because they harvested them all]. Thus did We go on making a distinction between the good [–those pursuing spiritual path on a Sabbath] and the evil ones of them by means of their acts of disobedience [–with a greedy path on a Sabbath].

The fine point in above verse is that when the whole population was fishing on weekdays, all the fish were harvested and hence the schools of fish were visibly reduced i.e. on the day when they did not observe the Sabbath (and fishing was open), it did not appear to them. But on the Sabbath, since the number of fishermen was reduced, hence due to lack of competition those who did not observe the Sabbath and were fishing, for them On the day of their Sabbath their fish appeared to them in shoals upon shoals on the surface (of the water). Further, only fishermen out on the sea could see the shoals and not the Sabbath observers in their homes.

There is clear indication above that the Sabbath breakers indulged in distorting the Scriptures to their fancy to justify their lifestyle had a common trait i.e. They tear the words from their context and say, `We hear and we disobey and those amongst them who were unjust changed the word to something different from that which they were told about the norms and spirit of Sabbath, thus they profaned the Sabbath.Naturally, when the Book of Moral Laws i.e. Scriptures and their meanings are distorted, then a consequent unbridled human behavior sets in that is devoid of moral guidance. This in turn naturally sets in a moral decay in such peoples, which outwardly seems as a simple historical act of fishing during Sabbath, but spiritually it resulted by breaking away from the actual meaning and purpose of the guidance in the Scriptures. The non-adherence to spiritual exercises of their times, namely refraining from otherwise lawful and gainful activities which included fishing, is similar to not eating an otherwise lawful and nutritious food and lawful conjugal relations during fasting in Islam.

Attributes of Sabbath Breakers

Quran gives another insight into the minds of the said Sabbath breakers:

16:124. The (punishment for profaning the) Sabbath was made to recoil on those only who were at odds over it, and your Lord will surely judge between them concerning all their differences on the Day of Resurrection.

As to what was it that the Sabbath breakers were at odds over it, Quran gives the context in the immediate previous verses:

16:120-23. The truth of the matter is that Abraham was a paragon of virtue; obedient to Allâh, upright, and he was not of the polytheists, Highly thankful for His favours. He chose him and guided him on to the exact right path. And We granted him great success (and all comforts) of this life, and in the Hereafter he is most surely among the righteous. Again, (Prophet! to complete Our favours on Abraham) We have revealed to you (saying), `Follow the creed of Abraham (who was an) upright, (devotee of God) and was not of the polytheists.‘

Thus, the Sabbath breakers were at odds over the very meaning and purpose of creed of Abraham by their arrogance and polytheism. But, to onlookers, they were merely catching fish on Saturdays, whereas inwardly they were a soulless society that claimed their lineage to Abraham but had no spiritual connection to the example and beliefs of Abraham.

History stands witness that spiritual decline with its corresponding emergence of hedonism leads to destruction of many civilizations. Quran similarly testifies to a section of Israelites in particular who turned polytheistic when they forged lies to the Scriptures and were making tall claims of their fanciful self-righteousness whereas they were blindly following nonsense and the transgressors:

4:47. O you who have been given the Scripture! believe in (the Qur’ân) which We have now revealed fulfilling such (prophecies) as you have, before We make extinct and destroy some of your leaders and deprive them of their glory or We condemn them as We condemned the people of the Sabbath (breakers); and (remember) the decree of Allâh is bound to be executed.

4:48. Surely, Allâh does not forgive (unless the sinner turns to Him with repentance) that a partner be associated with Him but He forgives everything short of it to whomsoever He will. And whoso associates a partner with Allâh has indeed committed a very great sin.

4:49. Have you not considered those who assert themselves to be pure? Nay, only Allâh purifies whom He will; and they shall not be treated unjustly, not even a whit.

4:50. Behold! how they forge lies [when they ‘They tear the words from their context‘ 4:46; ‘those amongst them who were unjust changed the word to something different from that which they were told’ 7:162] against Allâh, and sufficient is that as a very flagrant sin (to prove their sinfulness).

4:51. Have you not considered the case of those who were given a portion of the Scripture? They believe in nonsense things devoid of good and follow those who transgress, and they say of those who disbelieve, `These are better guided in the (right) way than those who believe (in Islam).’

Animal Metaphors

We are all too familiar with animal metaphors in various languages for example a lion is associated with bravery and fox for a cunning behavior of individuals.

An animal metaphor is a word, phrase, or sentence that expresses a resemblance or similarity between someone or something and a particular animal or animal class. True metaphors are single words, such as the noun tiger, the verb hog, and the adjective chicken. Phrasal metaphors combine true metaphors with other words, such as blind tiger, hog the road, and chicken colonel. Other animal metaphors take the form of similes, such as like rats leaving a sinking ship and prickly as a hedgehog. Still others take the form of proverbs, such as Don’t count your chickens before they hatch and Let sleeping dogs lie. The horse is the animal most frequently referred to in metaphors, followed closely by the dog. The Bible is the most prolific literary source of animal metaphors, followed closely by Shakespeare.[Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors, by Robert Allen Palamatier]

Metaphors of Apes and Swine in Quran

The metaphor “Monkey see, monkey do” refers to a learning of a process without an understanding of why it works. Another definition implies the act of mimicry, usually with limited knowledge and/or concern of the consequences [Wikipedia] and forms the basis of children story “Caps for Sale”[Wikipedia]. Such senseless fellowship in the matters of faith is also addressed as a metaphor in Quran:

2:62. Surely, those who (profess to) believe (in Islam), and those who follow the Jewish faith, the Christians and the Sabians, whosoever (of these truly) believes in Allâh and the Last Day and acts righteously shall have their reward with their Lord, and shall have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve.

2:63. And (recall, O Children of Israel!) when We took a covenant from you, (and it was the time when you were at the foot of Sinai), with (the summits of) the Mount towering above you (saying), `Hold fast to what We have given you [– commandments, Message, Torah], and bear in mind that which is in it, so that you may guard against evil.’

2:64. Then, (even) after that you went back (upon your covenant). Had it not been for the grace of Allâh and His mercy upon you, you would have certainly been of the losers.

2:65. And indeed you [– Jews] have come to know (the end of) those of you who transgressed regarding the Sabbath. Thereupon We said to them, `Be you (as) apes, despised.‘

2:66. Thus We made this (incident) an example to learn a lesson from, for those present at the time (of its occurrence) and (also) for those who came after it and an admonition to all those who guard against evil.

Thus, in verses above, Quran draws attention and expresses an admonition to blind fellowship of faith which is akin to human behavior of “Monkey see, monkey do” to avoid any nonsense in the matters of faith, which is a fundamental requirement for all those who guard against evil, else evil can be practiced and propagated in the name of a religion without any understanding of what the purpose of the faith was to begin with:

7:173. Or (lest) you should say, `It were only our forefathers who associated partners (with God) in the past and we only happened to be their children who came after them (to follow in their footsteps). Will You then destroy us for the vain doings of the perpetrators of falsehood?’

This moral decay in peoples is further exemplified in Quran with the examples of Jewish tribes in Medina during the life of the Prophet and has implications in our time:

5:50. Do they seek to enforce the law of (the days of) ignorance? [i.e.when might was right, there were no human rights, women were exploited, physical and economic slavery was rampant etc. before Islam]

5:52. Now you shall see those [weak at heart Muslims] in whose hearts is a disease (of hypocrisy) vying one with another towards them (- the Jews and Christians [who were powerful and influential in Medina] to take them for allies). They [i.e. early Muslims of Medina] say, `We are afraid lest a misfortune should befall us…[because of not siding with the powerful]

5:58. And when you call (the people) to Prayer, they [Jew and Christian communities of Medina] take it lightly [i.e. make mockery] and consider it [-Islam] worthless [like a sport i.e. not to be taken seriously and a religion not worth adopting]. They do so because they are a people who do not understand.

5:59. Say, `O People of the Scripture! do you find fault with us [Muslims] only because we believe in Allâh and in that which has been revealed to us, and in that which was revealed before (us [on you i.e. Torah, Evangel etc.])? Whereas most of you are disobedient (to God).’ [and flaunt His standards of fairness even in their own religions]

5:60. Say, `Shall I inform you of those who shall receive from Allâh a recompense worse than that of those (who try to find fault with Us)? They are those whom Allâh has deprived of His blessings and upon whom He brought His displeasure and indignation and of whom He has made (as) apes and swine [in their behavior who copy and imitate each other without thinking and have have no moral boundaries] and who serve the transgressor (- the devil) [as a natural consequence of their moral void, see v. 7:175]. It is these who are indeed worse-placed and farther astray from the right path.’

5:61. And when they [Jews and Christians of Medina] come to you they say, `We believe,’ while, infact, they enter without faith and go out without it [i.e. “Monkey see, monkey do”]. And Allâh knows best all they conceal.[i.e. they would strategically convert and revert in the then time of state of war with Makkans and were a source of dissent and treason]

5:62. And you will find many of them vying one with another in committing sin and transgression and being too much given to eat [i.e. consuming] things forbidden [in their daily living, including commerce, trade, food, social and political activities – the attribute of a swine who does not distinguish pure from the polluted food]. How evil is that which they practise!

5:63. Why do not the teachers of divine knowledge and those learned in the Law prohibit them from their blasphemic talk and deeds and their being too much given to eating things forbidden? Evil indeed is their machination.

Quran revisits with another example about all those who guard against evil and those who do not, the latter as apes despised:

7:164. And (ask them what happened to those people) when a section from amongst them said (to another section), `Why do you admonish a people whom Allâh is going to destroy completely, or whom He is going to punish with a severe punishment?’ They answered, `We do it so that it may serve as an excuse (to be absolved from blame) before your Lord and that they may become secure (against the punishment).’

7:165. But when they disregarded the warning that had been given them, We saved those who forbade evil and We seized those who did wrong, with a serious punishment of extreme destitution because they were exceeding the bounds of obedience.

7:166. So when they insolently refused to keep away from that which they were forbidden, We condemned them to be (as) apes despised [because such repetitive insolent behaviors ultimately ingrain into an indelible despised personality].

Metaphors of Donkey and Dog in Quran

If someone who reads the apes and swine in above verses for their literal meanings instead of metaphorical use, will have to justify the donkey for its literal use below:

62:5. The case of those who were charged to observe (the law of) Torah but did not carry out (its commandments in its true spirit), is like the case of a donkey that carries (a load of) volumes (of Books); he neither understands them nor gathers any advantage from them). Wretched is the case of the people who cry lies to the Message of Allâh. And Allâh guides no unjust people to success.

62:6. Say, `O you who stand on judaism! if you claim that you are the favourites of Allâh to the exclusion of all other peoples, then, if what you claim be true, express your wish (in prayer-contest) for death (either invoking it on yourselves if you are on falsehood or on me in case you think me an impostor).’

62:7. But they will never wish for it (- the death) because of (the sinful deeds) their hands have sent forward. And Allâh is fully Aware of the wrongdoers.

In another instance, metaphor of dog for a certain human behavior is also used:

7:175. And relate to them the news of him to whom We gave Our commandments but he withdrew himself therefrom, the satan followed him with the result that he became one of those led astray (and became a pervert).

7:176. Had We so willed We would have exalted him (in ranks) thereby (- by means of these Our commandments), but he remained inclined to (the material things of) this world and followed his low desires. His case therefore is like that of a dog, if you bear down upon it, it lolls its tongue out or if you leave it alone, it still lolls out its tongue. Such is the case with the people who cry lies to Our commandments; (they do not give up their evil ways whether you warn them or not). So narrate to them the account (of the people of old) that they may reflect.

7:177. Sad is the case of the people who cry lies to Our commandments and it is their own selves that they have wronged.

Present Day Sabbath

It is interesting to note that fishing is actually trapping of fish. Of the many prohibitions during Sabbath in Jewish canons, trapping is one such violation which is explained in Wikipedia:

Trapping

Definition: Forcible confinement of any living creature.

The Mishna does not just write “trapping”; rather, the Mishna says “trapping deer”. According to at least one interpretation, this teaches that to violate the Torah’s prohibition of Trapping, two conditions must be met.
<DOUBLE INDENT BEGIN>
1. The animal being trapped must be a non-domesticated animal.
2. The “trapping” action must not legally confine the animal. For example, closing one’s front door, thereby confining insects in one’s house is not considered trapping as no difference to the insect’s ‘trappable’ status has occurred. I.e. it’s as easy or difficult to trap it now as it was when the door was open.
<DOUBLE INDENT END>
This creates questions in practical Halakha such as: “May one trap a fly under a cup on Shabbat?” The Meno Netziv says that an animal that is not normally trapped (e.g. a fly, a bee, or a lizard) is not covered under the Torah prohibition of trapping. It is however, a Rabbinic prohibition to do so, therefore one is not allowed to trap the animal. However, if one is afraid of the animal because of its venomous nature or that it might have rabies, one may trap it. If it poses a threat to life or limb, one may trap it and even kill it if absolutely necessary.

Animals which are considered too slow moving to be ‘free’ are not included in this category, as trapping them doesn’t change their legal status of being able to grab them in ‘one hand swoop’ (a term used by the Rambam to define this law). One is therefore allowed to confine a snail or tortoise, etc. as you can grab them just as easily whether they are in an enclosure or unhindered in the wild. For these purposes trapping them serves no change to their legal status regarding their ease of capture, and they are termed legally pre-trapped due to their nature. Trapping is therefore seen not as a ‘removal of liberty’, which caging even such a slow moving creature would be, but rather the confining of a creature to make it easier to capture in one’s hand.

Laying traps violates a Rabbinic prohibition regardless of what the trap is, as this is a normal method of trapping a creature.

See further: Mishneh Torah Shabbos 10:15; Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 317; Chayei Adam Shabbos 30

Story of Sabbath Breakers is factually an Admonishment to Muslims

This example of Sabbath breaking on Saturday by bending the law e.g. laying fishing traps on Sabbath, only to retrieve them the next day on Sunday, or not refraining from an otherwise legal activity during a ‘fasting Sabbath’ is morally equivalent of stuffing bellies a tankful before and after the fast by which one can then lay claim that since no food was consumed during the fast, hence the sole obligation of fasting has been completed. To put it simply, by merely not eating during fasting or trapping but not hauling the fish during Sabbath are infantile efforts to trick God and please an angered deity, while Quran rubbishes such religious tricksters as apes despised:

14:8. Moses said, `If you turn ungrateful, you and everyone on this earth altogether (remember that) Allâh stands in need of no thanks. Verily, Allâh is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy (in His Own right).

Such ‘trickery’ is against the basic sense and purpose of Sabbath or Fasting because a fast is not only avoiding a lawful food and sexual activity, but also increasing meditation by reading, comprehending, contemplating and reflecting on Quran in a study and in prayers, while intensifying charity and alms giving. The culmination of such spiritual endeavors in thought and practice is moral uplift of the individual and the society. It is this bending of rules of spirituality only to preserve the outward shell of a religion while killing its soul that Quran alludes to above i.e. They tear the words from their context and say, `We hear and we disobey,’ – 4:46, those amongst them who were unjust changed the word to something different from that which they were told – 7:162, They believe in nonsense things devoid of good and follow those who transgress – 4:51. It is such behaviors which is characteristic of those who are judaised – 4:46.This is where Quran admonishes Muslims against their own decay into Judaism.

Sabbath in Present Day Islam?

In Quran there is no Sabbath for Muslims, rather the ‘Sabbatical’ Friday prayers are a brief interruption of daily commerce:

62:9. O YOU who believe! When the call is made for (the Congregational) Prayer on Friday then hasten to extol the name of Allâh and leave off all business. That is best for you if you only knew.

62:10. And when the Prayer is finished, disperse in the land and seek Allâh’s grace and bounty (and restart your business), and go on remembering Allâh much that you may achieve an all-round success [both spiritual and material].

62:11. But (Prophet!) when some people see some merchandise or any form of amusement, they run for it and leave you standing (on the pulpit), say, ‘That (reward of worshipping Allâh) which Allâh has (for you) is far better than any amusement or merchandise, and Allâh is the Best of Providers.

The above verse 62:11 equally applies to the Sabbath breakers who preferred some merchandise or any form of amusement, they run for it while ignoring the spirit of Sabbath in which (reward of worshipping Allâh) which Allâh has (for you) is far better than any amusement or merchandise, and Allâh is the Best of Providers.

Abrogation of Sabbath in Islam

With the advent of Quran, the Islam that initially was Israelites specific under Moses (PBUH) transitioned into the Islam as a universal religion under Muhammad (PBUH) in which the weekly ‘fast’ of Sabbath gave way to monthly ‘fasts’ of Ramadan. With globalization, old spiritual methods of regions and races had to be given up for a Universal methodology. Earlier faith which had decayed like a fish from its head first, needed to be replaced with a refreshed ideology of Islam till end of the times based upon Quran, a Book that abrogated the previous Books, all of which had been tempered or lost:

2:106. Whatever Message We abrogate or abandon it, We bring a better (Message) than that or (at least) the like of it. Do you not know that Allâh is indeed Possessor of power to do all He will.

16:101. And Allâh knows very well the need of what He reveals, yet when We replace a revelation with another revelation they say (to you), `You are only a fabricator (of lies).’ The truth is, however, that most of them know nothing.

JEWS AND CHRISTIANS KINDLING FIRES OF WAR THAT GOD EXTINGUISHES:

Wars and disorders arise out of corruption of ideas which in turn manifest in greed of financial systems. It will be silly to imagine that Quran speaks of ordinary Christians and Jews who go about their lives. In modern context Quran is drawing attention to the global institutions that own the world resources and are in turn owned and run by the people of Judeo-Christian heritage whose teachings have dearth of morality that leaves them with no self-checks, which then naturally spreads corruption in the land:

5:62. And you will find many of them [Jews and Christians] vying one with another in committing sin and transgression and being too much given to eat things forbidden [of their unlawful gains]. How evil is that which they practise!

5:63. Why do not the teachers of divine knowledge and those learned in the Law prohibit them from their blasphemic talk and deeds and their being too much given to eating things forbidden? Evil indeed is their machination.

These are just not empty rants or a cliché of conspiracy theories. As the facts stand in United States alone, 5 banks own assets worth 8.5 trillion dollars which is 56% of its national economy. Such a Super-Capital runs a Super-Government across the continents in which a common citizen does not count and any war is only a matter of a few board meetings and a few phone calls. These institutions become ‘too big to fail’ and for whom the ‘fiscal bailouts’ are arranged by governments under their sway, while the fact of the matter is that this global corruption of power is ‘too big to jail’ for vying one with another in committing sin and transgression and being too much given to eat things forbidden. How evil is that which they practise! [Ref: The Global Banking ‘Super-Entity’ Drug Cartel: The “Free Market” of Finance Capital]. The only road block in history and in the present to this Super-Exploitation is Islam:

5:64. And the Jews said, `Allâh’s hand is fettered (from assisting the helpless Muslims).’ Fettered are their own hands (from assisting the enemies of Islam), and they are deprived of blessings of Allâh for what they said. Nay, (the truth of the matter is that) both His hands are wide open (and free). He spends as He pleases. And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will most surely increase many of them in inordinate rebellion and in disbelief. And We have kindled enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection. Every time they kindle a fire for war, Allâh puts it out, but they strive to create disorder in the land, whereas Allâh does not like the creators of disorder.

5:65. And if the people of the Scripture had only believed and guarded against evil, We would surely have absolved them of their sins and We would surely make them enter Gardens of bliss.

5:66. If they had only observed the Torah and the Evangel and that which has been revealed to them (now) from their Lord, [because no Divine Book will endorse such behaviors as above] they would surely have eaten (of good things) from above them [i.e., spiritual gains] and from under their feet [i.e., material gains], (thus would have enjoyed the boons of the heaven and the earth). [Qur’ân does not measure all members of the opposing faiths with the same yardstick and acknowledges that]Though there is amongst them a community who is moderate (and of balanced mind), yet a large number of them are such that evil are their deeds[which are on record in the World history].

The single effective bulwark against this global Judeo-Christian corruption is the Message of the Quran which has been revealed to you from your Lord will most surely increase many of them in inordinate rebellion and in disbelief. It is only Islam that stands for a common man that we see in the life example of Prophet Muhammad who stood up to a massive military-economic force of his time, followed by his peers who routed the Persian and Roman empires in which 90% of masses were born to serve the 10% Super-Capitalists of their times. Islam has a built in moral force that alone can withstand a global exploitation:

5:67. O Messenger! convey (to the people the entire message) well that has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, you have not (at all) conveyed His message as it ought to have been. And Allâh will protect you from all (the onslaughts of) people (on your life). Verily, Allâh will not let the disbelieving people have their way.

Reader is encouraged to read “The New World Order” by Maulana Muhammad Ali, a landmark analysis as to why Islam is the only viable economic and social solution for mankind.

The Message of the Quran is validated by European history of its sectarian and internecine wars spanning hundreds of centuries that testifies to the following verse:

5:14. We took the covenant of those (also) who say, `We are Christians;’ but they have abandoned a good portion of what they were (reminded of and) exhorted with. So We have kindled enmity and hatred between (various sects of) them till the Day of Resurrection. And Allâh will soon inform them of all their machination.

PROPHECY BY THE PROPHET OF A TIME WHEN JEWS WILL BE CONFRONTED FOR THEIR MACHINATIONS

The prophecy of Muslims to face Jews is based upon following and similar Hadiths:

Sahih Al-Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 52, Number 176: Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: Allah’s Apostle said, “You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, ‘O ‘Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.’ ”

The above prophecy manifested and came to its conclusion during the life of the Prophet. The Jewish tribes of Medina, namely Banu-Qainqah, Banu-Nadir and Banu-Quraiza, for their oft repeat treachery were sent into exile after their respective sieges and the Jewish tribes of Khaibar were overcome in another siege and a battle by the Muslims of Medina. Thereafter, nowhere in Quran or Hadith is there any reference of Jews overcoming Muslim and Muslims confronting them [fn: Fazal Bari, Section 59, Hadith 2925, footnote 3, p. 1160, pdf p. 47; Urdu commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari by Maulana Muhammad Ali, pdf download]. Reader may be interested in similar discussion about Jews in Issue 67.

Even though the Christendom has historically persecuted other religions and races, it in particular has never lost its breath to target Jews with the full force of the Church – perpetua servitus iudaeorum – perpetual servitude of the Jews and the power of the Throne – servitus camerae imperialis, or servitude immediately subject to the Emperor’s authority (see Issue 74b). Quran foretold this persecution beforehand and the Christianity had a full choice for fourteen centuries to prove Quran wrong, but it could not:

7:167. And (imagine the time) when your Lord proclaimed (to the Children of Israel) that He would certainly continue to subject them, till the Day of Resurrection, to the people who would afflict them with the worst torment. Verily, your Lord is Quick to punish the evil but He is (all the same) Great Protector, Ever Merciful.

3:55. (Recall the time) when Allâh said, `O Jesus! I will cause you to die a natural death, and will exalt you to Myself and I will clear you of the unchaste accusations of those who disbelieve [-the Jews]. I am going to make your followers [-the Christians] prevail over the disbelievers [-the Jews] till the Day of Resurrection, then to Me (O people!) shall be your return, and I will judge all your differences. [-of note is that Muslim are also believers in Jesus as a prophet]

The above verses clearly allude to a perpetual persecution of Jews at the hands of the Christendom, the highlights of which were enumerated in Issue 74b before and A Short Review of Troubled History – by Fritz Voll and can be read separately. As to why the “Judeo-Christian” history has been so and what prevents its future recurrence is a question to be resolved between Christianity and Judaism alone:

2:113. The Jews say, `The Christians have no valid ground whatsoever (for their belief),’ while the Christians assert, `The Jews have no valid ground (at all for their belief),’ while they both read the same Scripture. Exactly such (ill-founded) things say those who have no knowledge. But Allâh shall judge between them on the Day of Resurrection with regard to all that about which they had been disagreeing.

Of note, in the verse 3:55 – I am going to make your followers [-the Christians] prevail over the disbelievers [-the Jews] till the Day of Resurrection is a clear indication that Christians will never be able to draw Jews into the fold of Christianity.

As far as Islam and Judaism are concerned, the latter only has to be thankful to former for its revival from oblivion into their Golden Age that was outlined in Issue 72d before.

References:

Note: [text enclosed in square brackets above is not part of the original quoted sources] Bold font is for added emphasis.

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism – by Naomi Klein
Exodus – A Hebrew – English Bible, According to the Masoretic Text, the JPS 1917 Edition
Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors – by Robert Allen Palamatier
Monkey see, monkey do – Wikipedia
Caps for Sale – Wikipedia
Activities prohibited on Shabbat – Wikipedia
The Global Banking ‘Super-Entity’ Drug Cartel: The “Free Market” of Finance Capital – by Andrew Gavin Marshall
The New World Order – by Maulana Muhammad Ali
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Muhsin Khan
Fazal Bari – Urdu commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari by Maulana Muhammad Ali, pdf download
A Short Review of Troubled History – by Fritz Voll
The Global Banking ‘Super-Entity’ Drug Cartel: The “Free Market” of Finance Capital – by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Holy Quran – Nooruddin